


to touch the stars

by temposh



Series: wherever we call home [1]
Category: EXO (Band), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Not Beta Read, botw au, road trip-like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:53:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25770142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/temposh/pseuds/temposh
Summary: although he longs for it, chanyeol never lets himself touch the stars.
Relationships: Oh Sehun & Park Chanyeol
Series: wherever we call home [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1869460





	to touch the stars

**Author's Note:**

> a side story based on "wherever we call home," an unpublished story i've been working on.
> 
> FOR CONTEXT — this is based off of the legend of zelda: breath of the wild. sehun, the hero of hyrule, wakes up after a century only to find the kingdom had fallen and is now recovering from a war he lost in. chanyeol is his tour guide turned best friend turned brother in every way except by blood relation, and together they trek through hyrule to save the kingdom from the remnants of the evil that attacked a century prior.

“You look like you need a long nap.”

“And _you_ look like you’d benefit from a change of clothes,” he sniffs the other’s shirt, his nose scrunching up in disgust, “A long wash too, maybe.”

Chanyeol pouts, pulling the end of his coat upwards to his nose and recoiling at the smell of wet bark and perhaps burnt metal. He begins to take out the thorns that tangled themselves into his hair to the point where it now resembles a spikey tumbleweed, letting out pained “ow”s and “ouch!” as Sehun helps him. 

His hair was probably the least of his worries. Chanyeol’s coat and trousers had a few thorns ripping holes into its fabric here and there, but the main worry was the spikes that pricked his arms. Sehun carefully pulled each thorn out slowly as Chanyeol stood as still and tense as a rock (though, Sehun suggested that if he’s tense it’ll hurt more). He whines when Sehun tugs out a second one, staring down at him with a frown.

“You’re pulling on them too hard,” one of his thumbs rubbed circles around a spot where a thorn used to be moments ago, “It’ll leave marks if you do it that way.”

“I told you you could’ve taken the paraglider and I would’ve climbed down myself, but instead you decided you _really_ wanted to climb down.” Another thorn. Chanyeol has to restrain himself from kneeing Sehun in the nose. “Now, you’re stuck looking like a porcupine,” he pats away some of the soot that had gotten on Chanyeol’s trousers, “a _burnt_ porcupine, at that.”

* * *

The thorny vines seemed nonexistent at the bottom of the newly-lit Hateno tower. The two of them had gotten rid of the vines covering the tower’s base and its bottom half with a number of flame arrows until their bows couldn’t shoot far nor high enough. The rest of the climb upwards consisted of weaving to and fro avoiding the vines they couldn’t reach with the occasional “ouch” coming from each of them whenever they happened to miscalculate a foot placement. 

At the very top of the tower, the Sheikah Slate successfully downloaded the map and information about the surrounding Hateno region, and their next course of action (as suggested by Chanyeol, and Sehun only agrees after a few minutes of staring at the Slate’s map) would be staying at the nearby Hateno Village for a couple of days. Up the hill was a tech lab that would for sure be a stop if they wanted to upgrade the Slate- that, and Sehun had gotten too tired of sleeping in the rickety beds each stable seemed to always have.

The problem arises when it comes to their descent; it might be hard to climb a hundred feet up the tower’s wicker walls, but it was remarkably easy to be reckless when coming down. There were two of them, yet one paraglider. Had either boy been far lighter or perhaps small enough to fit both boys on its handles without skewing their balance and preventing a safe landing, there would be little to no difficulties. 

They’ve tried it once- gliding down a small hill they found with Sehun on the left handle and Chanyeol on the right, only to be eating grass as the glider nearly cracked into two and they were promptly shaken off their handles and rolling down the hill instead. 

With previous towers, there would usually be a nearby mountain Chanyeol could jump to and then shield-surf down to safety, or even better, a small pond at the base of the tower he could simply cannonball into. Hateno’s tower, unfortunately, was on the steepest hill in its general vicinity. Any attempts to shield-surf that their height would leave Chanyeol with a _few_ broken bones- if he was lucky. 

As always, Sehun offers his paraglider. And like clockwork, Chanyeol refuses. God forbid he let Sehun get hurt navigating his way back down the prickly wicker walls, and he was too stubborn to let himself take the paraglider as the easy way out, no matter how many times Sehun attempts to shove it into his hands.

“I’m like your older brother, right?” Chanyeol would say each and every time, “I should be the one doing all this dangerous stuff, or something like that.”

Always the same old game, but Sehun’s teeth grind together just the same. “I’m 117,” he reminds him. He was a few years away from being a century older than him, if Sehun did the math correctly. “People have said I even _look_ older than you. Because I _am_.”

Sehun finds that this is the one thing Chanyeol would never let him have (or rather, refuse to let him have).

Once Sehun had landed safely on the ground, Chanyeol began his descent. He climbed down to the nearest platform before pulling out his shield- a rusty one they’ve yet to clean, one that won’t be missed if it happened to snap into two- and securing a foot under the strap behind the shield.

Dozens of feet below, Sehun yells up at him as his voice wavers with concern, “You’re going to _die_ that way, Chanyeol! Just climb down normally!”

“If I do it that way it’ll take too long.” He points towards the sun, barely noticeable behind a few tall mountains in the backdrop. Even ten minutes was precious to them if they wanted to get to the village before the Keese or the skeletal monsters caught up to them. “We want to get to Hateno before sundown, right?”

Sehun sighs at the sun as it starts to end its shift only to come back the next day. Chanyeol was right; there was no reason they should be wasting time when he was already tired enough from traveling from tower to tower for the past couple of days. Scaling this last one was likely the last straw for him. With a reluctant nod, he agrees.

Chanyeol leans forward and the metal of the shield screeches as it slides off the platform to the next one, then the next. He swiftly avoids the remaining vines and thorns as he and the shield descend through the air, landing on a platform near the middle of the tower. He eyes the height from the platform to the ground, turning his torso to aim straight for the ground at his next launch. Ignoring the persistent shakes of Sehun’s head and his hurried words calling out to him because No, Chanyeol, it’s not a very good idea to jump off a platform fifty-something feet up, but he slides off anyway. There’s a tug on his back and the sound of his coat ripping through the fabric when he realizes he’s caught himself on one of the thorns the arrows failed to burn to a crisp- himself and the shield quickly tumbling to the ground where the ashes and remaining thorns they did not care to get rid of laid. 

The impact from falling half a hundred feet along with the thorns prickling the surface of his skin here and there knocks him out for a few moments, only coming to when Sehun gives him a good slap to the face. The younger’s face hovered over him, all his features scrunched up to form an expression Chanyeol’s too weary to determine if it was an angry or anxious one. _Both_ , he presumes. 

He raises a hand to cup Sehun’s cheek, rubbing a thumb softly over it as if he wanted to smooth his features out like one would run their hands over wrinkled laundry multiple times. “My hero,” Chanyeol says- first he was the hero of Hyrule, in this moment he was the hero of Park Chanyeol. How honored he was.

Chanyeol’s soft touch does nothing to revert the way Sehun’s eyes squinted at him, his lips tight in a thin line. Sehun swats Chanyeol’s hand away, refusing to face him as he scoffs. “Don’t “ _my hero_ ” me, Chanyeol. You could’ve _died_.”

His smile is wide, sparkling and bright much like the retreating sun that was quickly retreating to the background. A laugh almost escapes him and he’s not sure if it’s from the elation that he might’ve gotten away with breaking only one bone (if Chanyeol was lucky), or the way he could bet on the fact that Sehun was likely hiding from him a smile of relief knowing that his best friend was as fine as he could be in this situation. “I didn’t, though!”

* * *

They just _barely_ beat nightfall by the time they arrive in Hateno. The two scurried past the nearby monster encampment and snuck by the Bokoblins scattered around the small forest right outside the village’s entrance when they finally got a break. Rushing past the large gate with the town’s name at the top, Sehun and Chanyeol bought themselves uneasy looks from the person standing guard as they fell to the ground as their first step in Hateno, exhausted from the near-constant running they’ve done ever since they left the hill. They quickly checked into the Great Ton Pu Inn, diving into the inn’s complimentary spiced meat skewers as a hasty means for dinner before Chanyeol began to make his way up the stairs and flop onto the bed. Left behind at the table, Sehun watched the now-bare skewers roll as he pushed it with the one he held.

Chanyeol doesn’t even make it two steps up the stairs before he notices the empty space behind him, the lack of Sehun’s steady breathing on the back of his neck or his whines about being so exhausted speaking volumes to him despite the silence. “Aren’t you going to sleep?” His head tilts, “You really look like you need it, Sehun.”

“I’ve slept long enough, I think.” He manages a polite smile, “A century’s more than enough.”

Chanyeol laughs at him. There’s a twinge of annoyance, like a bittersweet aftertaste- it was easier to lie, than to hide the dark circles that had appeared under Sehun’s eyes lately. “I don’t think that’s how it works. So… sleep? I could push our beds together if being alone is what you’re worried about.”

“I gotta do something in town first. You go sleep, I’ll be back in a bit.” It’s that polite smile again, so obviously manufactured because Sehun doesn’t know what he looks like when he grins naturally. “I have to check something.”

Looking him once over, Chanyeol contemplates his chances with arguing. Asking him to stay, to get the extra rest they both know he deserves. Or maybe, sneaking out to watch what he’s up to. “Alright.”

Sehun stays still, silent as he watches Chanyeol trek up to the inn’s second floor and waits for the sound of the door closing before he finally moves. As if he was still wary, suspicious about the possibility of Chanyeol’s piercing stare somehow watching him through the wood, Sehun sneaks out of the inn and tip-toes across the bridge until he arrives at the Kochi Dye Shop.

The lady outside has a sunny demeanor, despite the late hour. _Senna_ , she tells him her name, with such bouncing energy that Sehun can only see in Chanyeol. The owner inside introduces himself as Sayge- 20 Rupees a pop, Sayge says, if he wants to dye something, along with the materials needed to make the dye.

Digging through his knapsack, Sehun takes out the old shirt he found at the Shrine of Resurrection; the first shirt he wore after waking up, and the same shirt he was wearing when he first met Chanyeol. The already frayed fabric had become even more worn out from Sehun wearing it, so patches of different colors and materials were used as a means of repair. “I just need this tunic in particular dyed. Nothing else.”

“No can do, mister,” Sayge waves a finger at him, free hand on his hip, “When we dye, you have to do the _whole_ outfit. that is, unless you want to dye with only a shirt on.”

His head tilts in one direction. What kind of dyeing process was this, anyway? Sehun bites his tongue and decides to wait to find out, pulling out the matching well-worn trousers before going up to the lofted second floor as directed by Sayge. Holding the five Luminous stones in his arms, the floor suddenly opens up from beneath him and Sehun is almost instantly submerged into a large tub of water and soon, navy dye.

When he opens his eyes he’s soaking wet, water drops from his hair falling to the small couch he found himself on in a slow rhythm. Looking down, the new colors of the clothes shows it worked- the shirt and trousers were now a beautiful dark shade of navy blue, and his hair showed a small change in tint. It seems almost unnoticeable after Sehun shakes his head back and forth, shaking it out like one would get rid of snowflakes in their hair.

From his desk, Sayge jumps in his seat when he hears the couch creak as Sehun sits up. “Do you like it? It’s a very nice color on you- makes you look rather intimidating.”

“Yeah. Do you have paint? Yellow paint?”

Both sets of eyes glance at a small bottle of yellow paint on Sayge’s desk. “For what?”

“Some extra touches on this shirt.”

He changes out of the navy shirt and swaps it for his Champion tunic. With a brush in hand and a small cup of sparkling, gold-colored paint in the other, he gets to work on the shirt. Sehun carefully paints little stars all over the fabric as well as the moon and the planets Chanyeol would prattle on about enough to be ingrained into Sehun’s memory, until the shirt began to look much like the night sky above them.

* * *

“Why did you decide to help me? To come with me?” Sehun asks him one night, switching his attention on the fish they were cooking to him. The question was burning a hole in the back of his mind ever since Chanyeol jumped to be his “tour guide,” and then stayed to be his friend.

Chanyeol responds quickly, as if he too had thought about it many times. “I wanted to go out into the world.”

“You’re a stableboy,” he chuckles, “You have horses, you can just use those to get wherever you want, faster than going on foot.”

“Sure, but… horses can’t really climb up mountains. I wanted to be able to reach the stars,” Sehun only realizes that Chanyeol was staring back at him when the older looks up to the sky, realizing what he’s lost, “When we climb those Sheikah towers- or whatever they are- I feel like I could if I tried hard enough.”

“They’re not as close as you think, though.”

“You’re right. But they’re so _bright_ , Sehun. These stars are so far away from us but their light still finds us. It helps us find our way when we don’t have any torches. Still makes us happy— or at least makes _me_ happy. I want to be like a star, someone that can make them happy just at the thought of me. Like you are.”

Sehun nearly falls backwards, clapping his hands as he laughs at the thought. “Me? A star?”

Chanyeol pouts. “What, you don’t think you’re like one? You’re the Hero of Hyrule! There’s books and books and _books_ written about you! People study everything recorded about you! People see that Champion’s tunic-” He leans forward, his arm dangerously close to the campfire, just to poke his finger in the sky blue tunic and Sehun’s chest, “-and feel instantly relieved.”

“You’re a star to me, Chanyeol.” 

His already wide eyes grow even wider and he hopes that Sehun doesn’t notice it despite sitting maybe five feet across from each other and his features only being illuminated by the fire in front of him. But he could see Sehun clearly, the way his eyes light up as he stares back at Chanyeol, the way the corner of his lips slightly curved upwards to give the most sincere smile. “Really? Not the dogs you always befriend at the stables?” He teases because that is the only way he knew how to respond- that or punching Sehun lightly in the shoulder, and he didn’t want to risk burning his sleeve again. 

“Of course it’s you.”

Chanyeol smiles. “I think that means the most coming from you, Sehun.”

* * *

The people of Lurelin Village gave them very vague directions to Faron Tower. Chanyeol came back to Sehun and repeated the instructions he’d gotten from a lady at a shop ad verbatim, “keep walking until you reach a canyon… and then continue walking”. The confused look he gave back at him was deflected with a shrug of his shoulders; “Those are _her_ directions, not mine,” Chanyeol said in defense. Though nondescript, an hour of walking found themselves gawking upwards at the tall tower, and the even taller canyons that surrounded it.

“There’s… no platforms,” Chanyeol addresses the elephant in the room, “Not until the last third of the climb.” 

Scaling a canyon was maybe the last thing either of them wanted to do. They moved forward to the base of the tower and as Chanyeol dealt with the Electric Wizzrobe, Sehun knocked over the seemingly carefully placed slabs of stone that were oddly covering square-shaped holes around the tower. Minutes later, a draft revealed itself from one of the holes with a wind strong and heavy enough to fly someone straight up to the top of the tower.

Chanyeol looks at Sehun, hiding a frown. He loves climbing the towers.

“Go ahead, I’ll stand watch for any more Wizzrobes while you grab the region information.”

“...No.”

“What do you mean, ‘No’?!” Chanyeol shakes his head back and forth, “You’re the only one who knows how to use that thing. _You_ take the paraglider.”

Rather unceremoniously, Sehun shrugs his bag off his shoulder. The loud _thump_ the bag makes when it hits the rainforest floor alerts them both just how heavy it was. How much stuff does he have in there, and how was he able to travel with that much weight? Sehun takes out his paraglider before taking out another one— its surface navy, with meticulously hand painted stars and planets all over it. Soon enough it’s in Chanyeol’s grasp and he gawks at it, Sehun’s joke about having to pick his jaw up from the floor falling on shocked and inattentive ears. 

“No… _way_ ,” is all Chanyeol could utter, “You made this for me, Sehun?”

He nods. “Back when we slept at Hateno Village. I got tired of seeing you get hurt trying to get down from the towers over and over.”

“Are these… stars? Did you paint these yourself?” Gently, a finger traces the small stars as if the paraglider was made out of glass and he was too strong for his own good. Though it was made out of teared cloth and firewood, the paraglider was like gold in Chanyeol’s hands.

Sehun nods once more and Chanyeol pulls him into the tightest hug he can muster until Sehun almost sees stars of his own.

“Thank you. You really didn’t have to.”

“I did. Because now you can touch the stars like you always wanted to. Both in the paraglider… and up in the sky.”

Chanyeol chuckles. He supposes that if he would and could never be able to touch the bright stars in the sky, the ones Sehun has given to him will be more than enough.


End file.
